I think every person alive has a battle.  Some are so much worse than others, but everyone has one. (or more)  The question then becomes, “How is the battle best fought and won?”  Years ago, I read that in many cases, fighting a battle is not so much about fighting the darkness, as it is about turning on the light.”  That was a great help to me.  But turning on the light is not that easy.  How does one turn on the light?

I remember that old phrase, garbage in, garbage out.  You can apply that all sorts of ways, but it can apply to the mind and heart. And since that is where our battles are mostly fought, it matters what our focus is on.   This world is so broken and there is so much wrong, but there are still vestiges of good.  It is important to look for them and focus on them.  And it can become fun…kind of like a treasure hunt.  Even the worst of people was created in the image of God and was not meant to be what they have become…and if you look hard enough, you will find a little treasure amidst the filth.  We need to apply that technique of looking for the good.  And  when we do, it will help our own battle.

It helps, when I am really struggling, to focus on who God says He is.  Not on what I think He is.  I make him small and a small God cannot help me.  But He is not small.  When I focus on who He really is, there is hope and light.  His Word says that He is love.  He is light.  He is truth.  He is the one who has given EVERY good gift.  Good food.  Good music.  Great art.  Beautiful sunrises.  Colorful birds and bugs.  My children.  A good night’s sleep.  The ability to hop on one foot (which I am losing)  Whatever is good, I need to thank Him for it.  And that act of thankfulness, in itself, seems to help.  And by being thankful, we add to the good in the world.

Matthew 6:22 says “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”  So I am going to keep trying to adjust my focus and put more of my attention on what is uplifting.  The beautiful things of this world…the mountains….a trout filled river….sunset at the beach…..they are meant to point us to God.  The and vastness of the universe and the infinite complexity of the smallest cell….they point us to a creator.  How in the world we have come to believe so many lies and ignore what is right before our faces is quite amazing.  But in focusing on truth there is healing and health and victory for whatever battle we face.

When kids are very young, the world is so new and exciting.  Kids  are so curious.  They want to explore and see and understand everything.  And when they first start school, it is so much fun.  Learning is what they want to do.   They practically shout “Teach me!”

So what happens?  By the time we are adults, we seem to have internalized so many “No” and “Don’t do that” statements that we no longer even wonder about things.  We become afraid.  We lose the innocent, wide-eyed wonder with which we are born.  We become accustomed to day to day monotony…same foods, same routine, same old, same old.  Some of this is perhaps necessary, but what happens to  the imagination and creativity that God gives us when he forms us?  Why are we so inquisitive and excited about life as kids, and so boring and even cynical as adults??

As I ponder this, I think that maybe it is the adults in the world that do this to the kids.   As the ones “in charge” we do make a lot of rules.  Some are necessary because of safety, of course.  But many are just for our convenience.  Many are because of our fears, accumulated along the way.  We all have baggage and we pass it on to the next generation…and the next…and the next.

There, of course, are always a few adults who think “outside the box.”  Often they are ridiculed.  But some change the world! Surely, there should be more of these people.  But they are not usually rule followers.

Don’t get me wrong….I am not against all rules.  There are just so many of them!  When I think of the beginning of human society ….all the way back to the original creation….. Adam and Eve were initially saddled with only one rule.  We were told to explore and rule over the entire planet and we were given only one rule.

Then when Christ came, He again took us back to simplicity with just 2 rules.  Love God first and then your neighbor.  It is because we don’t want to follow those 2 rules, that we need to make so many others.  And with many rules, our lives become filled with so many “NO” and “Don’t do that” barriers….and we become adults.  I think we should study the children around us.  Then we should try to rediscover the child in us.  We can learn from kids and we need to try to avoid turning them into us.

May we all become as little children, at least in our ability to wonder and enjoy and trust.  Children shout “Life”.  They love adventure!  I don’t think I like adults so much!!